The present invention relates to an automaton designing kit, that is, a kit from which one can design and assemble a plurality of different mechanical moving toys.
The present invention is a kit that can be assembled to make a moving toy. The kit comprises a container having at least one wall portion movable between a closed position closing an opening in the container and an open position allowing access to the inside of the container through the opening. A shaft is supported for rotation relative to the container and has a first portion disposed within the container. A plurality of mechanical parts are selectively locatable on the first portion of the shaft to be supported for rotation with the shaft relative to the container. A plurality of design parts are provided for location outside the container. The kit includes structure for connecting at least one of the mechanical parts on the shaft to at least one of the design parts thereby to transfer rotational force from the shaft to the design parts to move the design parts relative to the container. The plurality of design parts includes a plurality of different design parts that can be assembled separately into a plurality of different toy structures each of which is adapted to be movable upon rotation of the shaft. The first portion of the shaft comprises an outer shaft part and an inner shaft part received within the outer shaft part, the outer shaft part supporting the plurality of mechanical parts, the outer shaft part rotating with the inner shaft part upon rotation of the inner shaft part.